Goabirder: Crab Plover

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Jamnagar

After spending the afternoon at Narara, we headed for Jamnagar where we based ourselves for the next two days. That evening we headed straight to the Lakhota Lake in the centre of Jamnagar where we hoped to see the at times 10,000 strong flocks of rosy starlings that come in to roost in the trees surrounding the lake. Not only did we see that astounding scene, we realized there must be at least 500 to 700 gulls also which nest there… not to mention the other birds which we couldn't count. It was already dusk then. The numbers are INCREDIBLE to put it mildly.

Huge flocks of rosy starling at dusk

A great cormorant trying to enjoy his spoils.... finally had to let go. The fish was far too big for him!!

A clever way to shield from the glare of the sun while fishing!!!! The painted stork

The great white and the dalmatian pelicans

Tufted duck

Common pochard

Brown headed gull

Mosaic-like, the spectacle of the gulls in Lakhota lake

Little cormorant

The next morning saw us on Valsura road and further on to the road going to rozy port. All along the road on either side were salt pans full of birds…. Flamingoes, godwits, plovers, avocets, sandpipers… the list is unending! It is here that we also chanced upon the three thick knees of our trip.

Pied Avocet

Greater Flamingoes in the salt pans

Too young yet for the characteristic pink of the flamingo!

Darter

Rosy starlings... disregarding the grumbling male :-)

The salt pans are massive and at the very far end, we were told that crab plovers could be spotted. So off we went fairly uncertain about the route since we had only a vague idea of the location. Finally after almost rally-like driving through dirt roads and onto bunds which were barely wide enough for the car, we finally spotted a flock of white a long way off. We practically crept towards the birds since they are known to be very skittish. It was a glorious sight that met our eyes. Every last bit of effort was worth it since we saw the most amazing birds there…. I’ll let the pics do the talking!

Caspian terns, crab plovers, lesser crested terns, oystercatchers, Curlews, whimbrel, pelican, redshanks, gull-billed terns... a great looking colony this!

Lesser crested tern, crab plover and caspian tern

Great thick knee

Common snipe

Bar tailed Godwit

Palas' gull

Common teal (f)

Crab Plovers

Oystercatchers

Rosy ringed Parakeet

Ruff

Western reef egret

THE sunset!

Totally satisfying and fulfilling trip to this amazing paradise for birds and bird-lovers alike!!

Sunday, 8 April 2012

Gujarat Series - Enchanting.. Narara

A palpable excitement pervaded the four of us at we set off very early
in the morning from Jamnagar to reach Narara Island. This is about
60 Kms away and though an island, is accessible by road! The
children jumped out of the car with barely contained anticipation
of finally getting to do the coral walk.

Within minutes, our guide materialised and we were off…
We had checked out the tide timings beforehand so as to reach
the place at low tide when the beach is exposed.

The short walk to the beach was pretty with mangroves all along the way. In fact, on either side of the path were mangroves complete with their breathing roots around them which have been planted by the forest department. They are really cute since many of them are all of 5 feet in height, like mini plants!

We stepped onto the shore, which resembled a seemingly endless canvas of sand littered with stones and rocks and little puddles of water trapped in the depressions around them. Little did we know the enormous amount of marine life trapped in them!

To our delight, we spotted the coral crab right away! Pretty creature… followed in quick succession by various other crabs, a sea spider, starfish, different kinds of corals, octopus and sea weeds.

Brittle starfish

Octopus

And finally, after a bit of searching, we found the puffer fish... the star attraction of the place. This is when we realised that it was imperative to hire the guide there since we would have managed to see maybe a tenth of the species there but for the knowledgable guide.

We totally enjoyed this trip... enjoy the pictures that follow... and come back for more soon!